Monday, December 2, 2013

Darville Racing hooks up with Brammo as factory team during 2014 eRoadRacing series

Brammo announced today that Darvill Racing would be contesting the 2014 FIM eRoadRacing World Cup as a factory supported team. This is both great for Brammo, and the first sign that there will be a 2014 eRoadRacing series.

Darville will be running with two "Factory-supported privateer Brammo machines". One is described as a "Prototype 2 (P2)" while the other is an eSuperStock bike. These will be in the eRoadRacing class, while others will be entered in National championships.

Both bikes are said to be based on the Brammo Empulse R street bike, and later in the press release it's said the teams first "TTXP2" is being prepared.

The problem with this press release is that it refers to information which the FIM eRoadRacing series has not yet released concerning the 2014 season. There are plans which Azhar Hussain told me over a year ago, for the 2014 season and beyond, which are pretty exciting, but eRR has not yet announced whether those plans are coming to fruition.

In all cases the bikes Brammo is supplying to Darvill are Empulse TTX's, and where they differ is in the amount of upgrades. For the eSuperStock bikes they're using a definition of "production bike with limited modification" and for the Prototype 2 bikes they're using a definition of "production bike but with nearly unlimited modifications allowed".

All the bikes in the 2013 North America eRR series fit the Prototype 2 definition, because every bike had significant upgrades such as to the controller.

Darvill will be doing an extensive winter testing program before their FIM eRoadRacing debut at Circuit Zolder in Belgium in May. Which implies an eRoadRacing event in Belgium in May, right? Something that eRR hasn't announced yet. Sigh.

Presumably Darvill's testing will be around the Isle of Man, their home base, but we understand they do not intend to enter the TT ZERO.

“We’ve been considering a switch to ebikes for a while now and feel that the time is right for us to take on this new challenge,” said Team Principal Alex Aitchison.

“The championship rules allow privately run teams like ours to compete on a level playing field and we are confident that we have the experience and resources to step up and contribute to what is one of the world’s most exciting race series.

“As a team, we have learned a great deal racing in a plethora of disciplines and have proved ourselves through a series of race wins, pole positions, fastest laps and world titles over our fifty year history. We’ve worked hard over the last few years to put out a professional team and we are delighted that this has been recognised by Brammo Motorcycles, who have both welcomed our move into the eRR class. Racing in FIM eRR will not only provide us with a fresh sporting challenge but will give considerably more exposure for our team sponsors.”